Eight Hours Ago
by storyweaver24
Summary: Jily Modern-Day AU, written for Jily AU Week. On a flight over the Atlantic, all Lily wants to do is keep to herself, but her talkative neighbor causes a shift in priorities.


**A/N: This was actually inspired by "Everything Has Changed" video because, at first glance, I thought it took place in an airport. And then I realized that it matched James and Lily almost perfectly. And then I fell in love.  
Anyways, this was written for Jily AU Week, Day 3: Modern-Day AU. :) Credits go to JKR.**

* * *

_'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."  
__And your eyes look like coming home  
__All I know is a simple name  
__Everything has changed  
__All I know is you held the door  
__You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
__All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

_-Everything Has Changed (Taylor Swift, feat. Ed. Sheeran)_

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Lily Evans tapped her foot impatiently, standing in line at Starbucks. The very tall, very messy boy in front of her was taking a ridiculous amount of time, not to mention that he had slipped in front of her with just an apologetic look. The barista behind the counter was fluttering her lashes quite ridiculously, part of the hold up. The other part was he apparently liked to hear himself and _would not shut up._

Finally he paid and left, and she stepped up to the machine. 'One vanilla latte, please. Grande.'

'Hmm?' The barista asked, tearing her eyes away from the previous customer with a starry look in her eyes. Lily sighed and repeated her order. 'And hurry, please. My plane is about to board.' She handed over her money, dropped the change in the tip box and moved out of line to the pickup.

She stood next to the afore-mentioned messy boy and noticed that the barista had added a heart at the end of his name. She sighed again and reached for her coffee.

As she straightened, the boy whirled around and knocked straight into her. Coffee went flying everywhere, but the majority splashed down onto her shirt.

'Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there.' He said, reaching deftly behind him and grabbing napkins. She stood there, frozen in shock and completely speechless. 'Good thing it was iced, yeah, instead of hot. That would have been a mess.' Transferring his half-empty cup to the counter, he leaned forward and started dabbing her front.

That snapped her out of her trance and she jerked away from him.

'I can do that, thank you.' She hissed, snatching the napkins and looking down at her ruined and wet shirt.

'Just trying to help.'

'Well, you've certainly helped enough. Thank you very much.' She said sharply. He shrugged and sauntered out of the small café, cheekily calling out a goodbye over his shoulder. She finished mopping up as best she could. She gripped her mostly unspilled coffee for warmth and marched away, ignoring the barista's dirty glare as she went.

Down the terminal she walked, looking for gate G7. The line at the boarding counter already stretched to the center walkway and the boarding sign flashed green. At least she made it.

The line moved fairly quickly onto the plane and she made her way to her seat. The plane was air conditioned as always and she was beginning to feel the chill seeping through her wet shirt. She leaned up against the window and tried to doze off as they finished boarding. The window was a little uncomfortable but not unbearable, and the sound of everyone moving around blended into a gentle, calming rush. She curled her toes, happy as always to be on a plane, and let out a deep sigh.

The best part about this was she had nothing to do for eight hours. No one would care if she slept, or read or listened to music. She was free to sit in relative silence and think. It was a quiet place.

'Oh, hello.' Her eyes popped open as she lost a bit of her sanctuary. She knew that voice. She had heard him drivel on about nothing thirty minutes ago.

No. It couldn't be. She turned her head and, sure enough, there he was, standing in the aisle and grinning at her.

Whoever was in charge of destiny or fate or karma had a sense of humour that she did not appreciate. 'Not you.' She muttered, but he didn't hear.

'Amazing how coincidences happen, yeah? I'm James Potter, by the way.' He said as he sat on the aisle seat, folding his long legs in between his seat and the one in front with some difficulty. When he was situated to his comfort, he reached up and stretched. His hands brushed the ceiling. 'Sorry, I didn't catch your name.'

'Lily.'

'Well, nice to meet you, Lily. It's been a pleasure so far. Mm, I'm half starved. I do hope they serve something half decent on this flight. They usually do on the Asian flights, but this is only over the Atlantic. I wonder what movies they're playing. Do you know?'

'Um, no.' She answered quietly, a little bewildered at him and his rambling ways.

'Maybe they'll be in the magazine. Only, I've got the shopping one. Do you have the other one? Not SkyMall but the magazine.'

'I think I just have that one as well.'

'That's alright. I bet the middle one has the listings for movies.' He flipped through the magazine with an intent look on his face. 'They're playing that one film with George Clooney. That's brilliant, that is. He's an amazing man. I'd love to meet him.'

'Yeah, he's good.' Lily reached down into her bag and pulled out her iPod. There was no use trying to simply _be_ if he was going to talk like this. Music it was.

She listened to it as the plane took off, very much enjoying having a soundtrack to such a dramatic event. The feeling of weightlessness made her smile for the first time that day.

A tap on her shoulder interrupted her solitude. James. She pulled out an earphone.

'What?'

'This lady wants to know what you want to drink.' He said, smiling at the flight attendant. She smiled winningly back, but not in Lily's direction. . _Figures_, Lily thought, attempting not to roll her eyes.

'Well, I'll have a Sprite, I guess.'

'You'd better give her a coffee as well, since I spilled the last one on her. I'll have a tea, too. Cream and sugar please. For the both of us. Blimey, you must be cold since you're all wet. I didn't think of that. Do you have a jacket or something?'

'Um…'

'That's no problem; I'll give you mine.' He told her and pulled off the sweatshirt he was wearing. He handed it to her and she bewilderingly put it on. It was still warm and smelled faintly of vanilla. His coffee, she supposed.

'Thank you very much. Ginny, wasn't it? You've been very kind.' James said the flight attendant, handing Lily first her Sprite and then her coffee. The flight attendant shook her head at him and moved to the next passenger.

'Thank you very much for, um, the sweatshirt. And the coffee,' she said to him. He grinned again – was he always smiling?—and tugged a hand through his hair.

'You're welcome. It's the least I could do after messing up your morning like that. It was a very nice shirt before I ruined it.'

'Thank you. But, won't you be cold?' She asked, glancing at his bare arms. He laughed and shook his head.

'I'm sure I'll be fine, Miss Lily. It is Miss, yeah?'

She stiffened, wiggling the ring on her finger. It wasn't an engagement ring, but one to throw unwanted advances off. He seemed genuinely interested, though. 'Yeah. But don't call me Miss. That sounds like my little children.'

'You have kids?' He asked and the look on his face was priceless. She let out a giggle and buried her hands in the pocket of the sweatshirt.

'Not _mine_ exactly. I'm learning to be a teacher and I was a student teacher for a semester. I had little first graders calling me that.'

'I see. That's very impressive. I could never be a teacher. Well, not a primary school teacher. Maybe secondary or at uni, but never primary. They're little snots, they are.'

'They can be. They're quite like puppy dogs.' She said. He perked up.

'Oh, I don't like dogs. My friend Sirius does, though—it's quite ironic 'cause he's named after one—and I'd almost think he was a saint too, if he wasn't Sirius. He's a bit mad, you know the type? Absolutely bonkers.'

'I see he's rubbed off on you.'

He put on an affronted face and pretended to pout. 'That's not nice, Lily. I would think kindergarteners would have better manners than you. But yeah, I can be mad sometimes. I've got a friend, Moony-well that's what I call him. He's real name's Remus but we nicknamed him that on account of he's got the name of a werewolf—and he calms us down. Loves to read, that one.'

'Sirius, Remus, do all your friends have such funny names?'

'Well, some of them do. Some have got perfectly normal names, like Peter. And mine's James; that's not too unusual, is it? Peter's another very close friend. Those three are almost like brothers to me. Our secondary school head used to call us 'Marauders' because we wandered around so much and stole food out of the kitchens.'

'That's seems like the idyllic childhood, then.'

'Oh, sure. Doesn't everyone pour bubbles into the fountain in midwinter?'

'You did that?'

'It was Sirius' idea. And Remus wanted to see if the bubbles would freeze, so there you go.'

'Did they?'

'What?'

'Did they freeze?'

'Oh, yeah. And then they would break and soapy bubble shards were all over the walkways. My favorite professor came running out and nearly fell over trying to keep her balance. It was quite hilarious. My Head of House didn't appreciate almost dying, though. She gave me and my friends detention until spring.'

'My friends decided to turn beach day into an actual day at the beach. We snuck out of a school assembly and laid down a plastic sheet. Then we sprinkled sand on it and cranked the thermostat up a few degrees. We snuck back in and waited to go to class. Our teacher was not happy, but he couldn't do anything because we were too busy making sand castles.' Lily told him, smiling at the memory.

'That's bloody brilliant! Where'd you ever think of that?'

'I think I read it in a book once.'

'I guess I should starting reading more, if ideas like that come from books. Actually,' he added, looking thoughtful, 'that explains Remus a lot. Hmm. Do you know if we're getting any food?'

His abrupt change in conversation gave her a start and she could only blink at him for a moment. He raised an eyebrow amusedly and smiled crookedly at her. She flushed—only a bit—and shook her head.

'But I do have some candy in my bag.' She said, pulling out a bag of M&M's and scooting over to the middle seat. 'I guess I'm willing to share.'

'You're a lifesaver.' He said around a mouthful of chocolate. She rolled her eyes and popped one into her mouth. He looked at her with a funny expression. 'You eat your candy one by one?'

'You don't?'

'No.' He said and unceremoniously swallowed a handful of them.

'Barbarian.' She quipped. He grabbed his chest and adopted a pout. She rolled her eyes again. 'What does your shirt mean?'

Now he was the one to be confused. He glanced down and shrugged. 'Oh, I play on a club football team. We're the Gryffindors and everyone says we're out to win the championship.'

'Do they now?'

'Of course. We're up against another team, the Ravenclaws, and then, if we win, we play our rivals. They've beat us out nearly every year for the Cup but I know we're going to win this year. I'm on the team, we have to win. Plus, the Slytherins lost their best player because he was put in jail or something. I don't really know the details.'

'That's… interesting.'

'Don't worry; they're all scoundrels.'

'You're a scoundrel. Should I worry about you?' She teased, but as she turned to look at him, something stopped her smile. He was staring at her, eyebrows pulled down and eyes unreadable.

'Probably.' He answered finally and seemed to shake himself awake. 'I am known to cross the street when the lights are red.'

'That's dangerous.' She said poking him on the arm. He shrugged.

'That's why I'm a scoundrel. And a marauder.'

She tilted her head to one side. 'You do realize that one doesn't necessarily equate the other.'

'Damn, you think that someone would have mentioned that.'

'They probably did, but you were flying too high to realize it.'

James reached for another handful of candy. 'I don't tend to listen, that's for sure. My teachers always said it was because I talked too much. I'm honestly not so bad. Sirius is a lot worse, especially if we give him coffee. It doesn't happen often—he usually sticks to tea or juice—but if it does, he talks about a mile a minute and won't stop. Much like I'm doing now.' He finished ruefully. She laughed.

'It's not the first time.'

'Anything to eat?' The flight attendant asked. Lily felt as if the lady had just appeared out of nowhere. It was James, she supposed, who kept her attention so fully that she didn't notice. She realized that she hadn't actually answered and shook her head to clear her mind.

'I'll have the chicken.'

'I'll have the pasta, please.' They were each handed a tray balanced precariously with a hot tin and an assortment of sides. They ate in silence, mostly, content to be alone with their chewing.

'This pasta's sort of rubbish.' James said after a while. 'It's overcooked and mushy.'

'Do you want some of this chicken?'

'Nah, I'll stick with the salad. And the crackers.' He answered, holding up a sleeve of them. He nicked the cheese off of her plate, much to her annoyance, and stuck it in between two crackers.

'Hey!' She complained. 'That was mine. Give it back.'

'No.' He answered, holding his thrown-together sandwich out of her reach. She remembered just how _tall_ and lanky he was. She didn't get anywhere close. '

'Fine,' she said when the battle was lost,' I'll just have your dessert, then.'

The smile slid off his face and turned to an expression of horror.

'You wouldn't dare.'

She opened the foil as answer. 'I think it's cheesecake.'

After a moment's deliberation, he dropped the half-eaten cheese onto her platter and snatched the dessert cup back. 'You are impossible.'

'Thank you.' She told him cheekily, munching on her meal. He glowered at her and jokingly shielded his dessert with his body.

'You never did tell me why you were going to Manchester.' He said after they were finished. She sighed and pushed her tray away.

'I'm visiting friends. And then I'm going to school.'

'At the University? Are you a transfer?'

She laughed. 'I'm working towards my Master's, actually.'

He closed one eye suspiciously. 'Just how old are you?' He asked carefully. Blushing, she hid behind her hair.

'Twenty one.' She said and he frowned. 'I promise, I'm twenty one.'

'Lily,' he said quietly, '_I'm_ twenty one and I'm still in uni. How are you getting your Master's?'

'I went to school early. I was seventeen when I started.'

'Aren't you smart, then?'

'I suppose so. ' She grinned up at him, abruptly realizing just how close they were. Only a handbreadth apart, really, close enough that she could kiss him with no effort at all.

What was she saying? She'd never even met the boy before today. A complete stranger and she was thinking of kissing him.

His eyes flickered down to her lips and she swallowed. So she wasn't the only one thinking about it. Her fingers itched to hook themselves around his neck and tangle themselves in his hair. She could feel her heartbeat racing, racing, racing. Was he—

'Any trash, dears?' The woefully inattentive flight attendant asked and James ruefully turned away. He wordlessly handed his food tray to her and Lily's as well. Lily ducked down to put something, anything, away and to hide her surely red face.

'We're strangers.' She reminded herself. 'We don't know each other.'

'Lily, are you alright?' James asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She straightened hastily and pulled her hair away from her face. 'I heard you muttering something.'

'Yeah, I'm fine.' She was pleased to hear that her voice was not as breathless as she worried it would be.

'Hold still.' He reached a hand out towards her face and she froze, her breath quickening. He draped a strand of hair she had missed behind her ear, barely brushing her face. She still felt her stomach tighten. This was not good.

'Thank you.' And this time, it wasn't steady. She shivered a little and he frowned again.

'Are you still cold?'

'I'll be fine.'

'You say that a lot. Are you really fine or is that just an automatic answer? You know when people have those phrases they say just to keep people away?'

'James,' she said, interrupting with a smile, 'I'm really just fine.' Lie.

They talked about trivialities next: family and friends and home. Their birthdays, favorite holidays. James recounted tale after tale of stunts he had pulled with his closest friends and Lily laughed until her sides hurt.

'I always wanted a sister.' He said wistfully. 'I guess I've got Sirius. He's closer than a brother, but a sister would be different, I think. Are you close with yours?'

She paused, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. She opened her mouth and found the story spilling out. 'She hated me because I got into her –and my—dream college and she didn't. Oh, she hated me for that. And we're so different, her and I. She's the exact opposite, in fact. But we used to be great friends when we were children. We loved to play together in the park, pushing each other on the swings and seeing how fast we could go on the roundabout. I miss her. But she won't talk to me.'

He was silent for a moment. 'I'm sure she misses you too.' She quirked a small smile at him, burrowing her chin into his jacket. 'I do believe that's the most you've ever said to me at once, though.' He teased. 'I was beginning to think you couldn't speak in paragraphs. Just sentences.'

'And I was beginning to think you can't answer with one word. I still haven't had that disproved.'

'You're wrong.'

'That's two words, not one. And technically, it's three.'

'Fine then.'

'Still two, silly boy.'

He wrinkled his nose at her and stuck out his tongue.

'You can make faces all you want, but you still haven't answered in one word.'

'Whatever.'

'There. You've done it. Was that so hard?' She asked, adding a tone of faux sympathy. He stuck his tongue out at her again for good measure.

Absentmindedly, she glanced down at her watch. Nearly four hours had passed already—it hadn't even felt like an hour. Their time was half over, she realized, and she suddenly felt incredibly sad.

'Why were you in the States?' She asked, partially because she wanted to get her mind on funnier things and partially because she actually loved to hear him speak.

He turned to her. 'Can I speak in more than one word?'

Repressing a smile, she rolled her eyes. 'If you must.'

'My great-aunt Grace lives in Massachusetts. Seeing as the last time I saw her was when I was twelve, my mother thought it would be a good idea to give her a visit.'

'How long?'

'Two months. She lives in a lighthouse by the sea. It's fantastic and so very quiet. I love it there.'

'You love the quiet? That's a surprise.'

'Occasionally, like for the summer. But I do prefer the city I guess. We used to go to the seashore every holiday when I was a kid. It's beautiful there, even more so than where my aunt lives.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Oh really? I don't believe you.'

'Look, I can show you!' He pulled out an iPod and quickly opened his photos. 'We went there over Christmas hols. A bit chilly, it was.'

He flipped through picture after picture, pointing out the people he had talked so enthusiastically about. He landed on one of just him and a girl and went to the next one almost immediately.

'Wait, who was that?' She wondered, a feeling of dread uncurling in her stomach. His face turned blank abruptly.

'No one.'

'James—'

'Drop it, Lily. It was no one. '

She wisely shut her mouth, feeling confused at his demeanor. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seemingly counting to ten in his head. When he spoke again, it was like he was a different James altogether.

'What did you do for winter break?'

'Nothing as spectacular as going to _Wales_, that's for sure.' She answered, shaking her head. 'We just enjoyed home together. It was nice.'

They slipped into conversation again without a second thought and slipped out just as easily, sitting in comfortable silence as the lights dimmed around them. Lily watched the dancing lights play on the clouds. The moon was bigger than she'd ever seen it.

'So is there a special someone in your life?' He asked some time later, his voice low so to not wake the dreaming passengers. She glanced over at him but couldn't quite get a read on his expression.

'Not anymore. Actually,' she confessed, 'it's been a while.'

'Why? I mean, you're fit—' he stammered a bit here and she knew he must be blushing, 'and intelligent. I'm sure you must have been a catch.'

'Yeah, well. Keeping up my grades up left little time for romance. And he didn't understand that.'

'What was his name?'

'Lucas.' She couldn't hide the hurt his name evoked in her voice. James studied her for a moment, then pulled her into a hug. 'He wanted to marry me, but I would have had to drop out of college. That was his condition. I chose my life over his dream.'

'It was the right choice.'

'I hope so,' she broke away and straightened up. 'It doesn't matter anymore. It's made and it's done. It was for the best, anyways. '

'I'd say so. We'd never have met on this plane if you did.'

'That's true,' she said, biting her lip and wondering if she should ask about him. 'Are you dating anyone?'

He glanced down at her with an unreadable expression. 'You were honest, so I guess I should be as well.' He reached up and dragged a hand through his hair. 'There was and she's the reason I really went to visit Aunt Grace. She wasn't the best influence, you could say, and my mother told me if it was best if I could get away to clear my head.'

'The girl in the picture.' Lily realized and James nodded.

'That was Roselyn, yes.'

She could feel the tenseness in his body next to her and she wasn't surprised when he changed the subject.

'It's amazing, isn't it? We've only known each other for-' he grabbed her wrist to squint at her watch,' –seven hours and I feel like I've known you forever.'

'This is the fastest I've ever made a…a friend before,' agreed Lily, poking him in the side. 'Especially one as crazy as you are.'

'Speak for yourself. You're a downright nutter, you are.'

They joked around until the plane began to descend. The lights flickered back on and the queasy feeling in Lily's stomach had nothing to do with the drop in altitude. She had minutes left with him, now. She had never felt closer to anyone than with James, not even Lucas. What was she going to do when he left?

'James, I—' she began just as they started their final descent. Her ears popped and the roar of the engine was too loud for her to speak over. She gripped the armrest instead. He noticed her tight hold and wove his fingers through hers.

They landed with a screech, the plane going so fast it felt as if they would take off again. But alas, they rolled to a slow crawl. The pilot announced something about the time and weather outside and told them cellphones were allowed again.

'What were you saying?' He asked and she tilted her head.

'Nothing,' she decided. She didn't want anything to spoil these last moments, panic and nostalgia especially.

They exited the plane together, him shouldering her bulky carry-on, despite her protests. He caught her hand as she stumbled on a wrinkled bit of carpet and didn't let go until passport control.

They had to split here, him to the UK citizens queue and her to the foreigners. He pulled faces as they shuffled through and waited for her on the other side.

'That one's mine,' she said, pointing at a nondescript black suitcase. He lifted it off the conveyor and onto a trolley. She spotted her other bag and did the same.

'Damn!' James said suddenly, dropping her hand. 'I forgot to turn my cell on. I bet Mum is wondering if I've landed yet.' He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, pressing the power button. As soon as it turned on, the screen lit up with text messages. She read the names of the senders as they appeared. Sirius. Mum. Remus. Sirius. Roselyn. Roselyn. Roselyn.

She swallowed the lump of emotions caught in her throat and the words she was about to say. They walked through the doors that lead them into the real world in silence, and Lily was accosted with people waiting for their friends, family and business associates. No one was there for her. She had the address of her flat on her iPod; she was to take a taxi.

James pulled her into the crowd, telling her that his family would be there in a moment. She nodded at him and he paused, looking down at her earnestly. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his lips to hers.

She had never been kissed like this before. She could feel it in every cell of her body, tingling and magical. Her arms gripped his and she pressed up on her toes so she could deepen the kiss. The rest of the world faded away for a moment; she couldn't think about anything or anyone or why this was a bad idea. He was _everywhere_ and she was lost in him.

He pulled away and she had no idea how long it had been—a second, or was it forever?

'I've been wanting to do that since Starbucks,' he said with a satisfied smirk. 'I had to kiss you at least once.'

She was too stunned to do anything. 'Oh, damn, was that alright? I didn't even ask if would be okay with you. I should have, I'm sorry—'

'James,' she told him, putting her hand on his arm, 'it was fine.'

A slow smile spread across his face and he opened his mouth.

'Prongs!' Someone shouted and they both whirled around. The person tackled James in a great bear hug, and two others followed. Lily assumed they were the other Marauders and she smiled at their enthusiasm. Finally, they broke apart, one ruffling James' hair as he stepped away. James huffed and ran his fingers through it again to straighten the messy strands.

'You haven't changed, Sirius.' James said ruefully. The one Lily remembered as Remus turned to her with a smile.

'What's your name?'

'Lily,' she replied, liking his smile. He seemed to be exactly as James described him, kind and gentle. 'I met James on the plane.'

Another exclamation made her turn her head. Two women with identical smiles were hugging James enthusiastically. The one with greying hair she recognized as his mother, and she caught sight of the other's face as she stepped back. It was Roselyn.

Lily's stomach dropped again as the pretty brunette wrapped an arm around James' waist and they were both laughing. Without another word, she stepped back until she was lost in the crowd. She stumbled out through the exits, numbly giving the address to a cabbie who put her trunks in the boot.

She slumped against the window as she watched the airport disappear, belatedly realizing that she had never even gotten his full name.

'What a stupid girl I am,' she whispered, 'thinking that something could happen.' They had just known each other for seven hours; it was foolish.

So she sat alone in the taxi, still wearing his sweatshirt that smelled faintly of vanilla and felt her heart shatter into dust.

* * *

**A/N, p2: This is dedicated to all the people that wanted AU Week to be heartbreaking. I thought about just making this nice, pleasant fluff but NOOOOOO.**


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